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Knight at the Crossroads

Victor Vasnetsov1882

The State Russian Museum

The State Russian Museum
St. Petersburg, Russia

Victor Vasnetsov’s painting is a free interpretation of the Russian traditional legend of The Three Journeys of Ilya Muromets. The artist depicts the hero in a moment of reflection, before a stone inscribed with the following words: “If you go straight ahead, there will be no life; there is no way forward for he who travels past, walks past or flies past.”

Victor Vasnetsov interprets the legend as a real event, depicting the knight in ethnographically and historically authentic armour and in a natural landscape setting. The artist employs literary devices to contrast the forces of lightness and darkness — the lucid figure of the knight on the white horse, the ominous black raven on the stone, the skull and bones scattered across the steppe. The interpretation of the landscape as the endless Russian plain and the loneliness of the thickset rider on the horse lend an epic ring to the picture.

Details

  • Title: Knight at the Crossroads
  • Creator Lifespan: 1848 - 1926
  • Creator Nationality: Russian
  • Creator Gender: Male
  • Creator Death Place: Russia, Moscow
  • Creator Birth Place: Russian, v. Lopiyal
  • Date Created: 1882
  • Physical Location: Russia
  • Physical Dimensions: w2990 x h1670 mm (Complete)
  • Type: painting
  • Rights: The State Russian Museum, 1902, The State Russian Museum
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
  • Painter: Victor Vasnetsov
  • Original Title: Витязь на распутье
  • Medium Extent: Complete

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